This truck has so much potential.

Originally built in the late 80’s-early 90’s, this 59 Apache, originally from North Carolina, was chopped 3 inches, fit over a 70’s era Chevy 4×4 chassis and may have been run as a 4×4. The last owner fit her with a Chevy big block 454 and a 700R4 automatic transmission, that did not have 4WD capabilities/was not set up with a T-case. The Chevy corporate 4×4 front axle is still in place, but no driveshaft. This truck is NOT 4 wheel drive.

In my opinion, the truck looks a little cartoonish, in a good way. Chopped top, big fat fenders, 20″ wheels fill the wheel wells, looks almost like something from Cars the Movie or ToyStory. There are two different brand and size tires, all of which are pretty much in need of replacement. 275/55 Continentals in front and 280/50/R20 Falkens out back. These are date coded 2011.

The deep burgundy metallic paint has seen better days. Heavy swirl marks, several areas suffering from bad prep are starting to bubble, there are a fair share of scratches, chips and cracks. Overall though, there isn’t a lot of rust/rot showing up aside from a bit on the leading edge of the right door and the trailing inside of the left cab corner. Headers send the spent gasses through the 3″ dual exhaust, which is routed through a custom cut roll pan. Frame is solid although there is the expected light age/surface rust. The wood in the bed is solid and I feel could be sanded and refinished and look new. The chrome is shiny except for the blinker surrounds which show rust coming through. Tin foil and Coke would clean up the minor pitting on the door handles and other chrome bits. All the lights work, including the small inset running lights in the end of the bed tubes.

The odometer reads 14,288 miles. true mileage is unknown. The interior could be called rad, if we were still in the 80’s. Grey and burgundy with teal accents, the interior may be this truck’s best attribute in terms of condition, a little steam cleaning and freshening up and she’d look even better than she currently does, the headliner is in great condition and all fabrics are still whole, with no tears or even major wear. A solid wood Grant steering wheel was probably the pride of the last owner. She has the comfort items of tilt wheel, power steering, power brakes and power seats.

It’s difficult not to call the 454 under the hood the best attribute though … who can argue with displacement. Although the mileage on her is unknown, pull the choke back, two pumps and she fires up, she is a little cold blooded though and needs a little time to warm up and settle into a lumpy idle that every big block should have. The 700R4 is a rather solid transmission and are hard to beat up. This one hesitates just a hair when shifting from park to reverse/drive. The linkage feels a little sloppy so that may be it, she might just need a new filter and fluid.

She will easily light up the tires though through 1st, 2nd and into third gears.. no slipping there at all.

So, what to do with her?

With some deep cleaning, touch up/color correction and polishing, the paint will look a lot better; polish the wheels, put some new rubber on her and take her out to cruise nights and have fun. The truck will draw a crowd.

All of that will not get past many of the issues though, so, if she were mine, I’d strip and paint her, probably in the same color tone, sand and refinish the wood bed, freshen the interior and keep the rad vibe, get rid of the 4×4 front axle and drop in some sort of straight axle, tighten up the suspension, steering and all the other small bits, as stated, new tires ( oh and move that gas tank!) and then go have some more fun.

That was the current owners plan, but we all know what can happen to the best made plans .. they can soon be laid to waste. Life got in the way and after just about a year of ownership, he’s decided she needs to find a new home.

The asking price on her is $14,800. Any questions, to schedule a time to see her in person or to make an offer, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you for the interest!

For the full listing and photo set, please visit https://autoarcheologist.com.